From
hot
movies to
cold
reality
Former erotic movie actress working at
MacDonald's
CHANGE: Ms
Cheng Yim Lai, 42, a former erotic movie actress who is currently
working in a McDonald's. (Below) Ms Cheng in her
prime.
PHOTOS: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
She once starred in erotic movies
Now Ms Cheng Yim Lai, 42, is working hard to make ends meet.
She was spotted earlier this week selling burgers
at a McDonald's outlet in Hong Kong.
The person who made the discovery is a reporter
from Next, a Hong Kong weekly news magazine.
The report said that Ms Cheng earns about HK$32
(S$5.30) an hour, with her monthly income about HK$10,000.
It is not known how many days a week she works
there.
She works the night shift, finishing at 7am.
There was a time when she was seen only in designer
clothes, but now she does not even bother to change out of her
uniform after work.
After the shift, she took off her hat, put on a
windbreaker and hopped on to a public bus to go home, the report
said.
When the reporter approached her, Ms Cheng kept her
head down and tried to get away from the scene in an attempt to
escape the questions.
The reporter asked Ms Cheng if her current state
was due to marital problems, but her reply was a curt, "I have
nothing to say."
The reporter persisted, asking why she chose to
live this way, but she kept her head down. She insisted that her
life "is normal". She refused to comment any further.
The report said that she looked a pale shadow of
her former self, having put on weight.
She also had grey hair. But the reporter noticed
that she had a good work attitude.
When her colleagues took supper breaks, she was
seen picking up a cloth and cleaning the tables. She was even heard
saying, "I'm losing weight!"
Next Magazine reported, quoting sources, that she
recently opened a private eatery in Taiwan, but was forced to close
it in a year.
The report also claimed she split with her
boyfriend, causing her to lose even more money.
That was when her connections within the
entertainment industry were cut off completely.
STARDOM
Ms Cheng tiptoed into stardom when she won a radio competition
in 1988. She made her first TV appearance alongside Hong Kong movie
star Tony Leung, in the 1989 TV show Hap Hak Hang.
In 2000, she caught the eye of Taiwanese
millionaire Wong Ren Zhong, who is believed to have helped her set
up a nightclub and a food outlet.
Soon after that, she began acting in Hong Kong
erotic movies.
It is not clear how many movies she acted in.
Her last public appearance was in the Hong Kong
comedy film 72 Tenants of Prosperity in 2010, in which she was a
guest star, Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported.
News, The New Paper, Friday, January 24 2014, Pg 12